High speed peak amplitude comparator

ABSTRACT

Various methods and circuits for implementing high speed peak amplitude comparison. The invention achieves higher speed of operation by eliminating the slow feedback loop commonly employed in peak detection. In one embodiment, the invention directly compares a signal that represents the peak amplitude of the input signal minus a small voltage drop, to a modified reference voltage. The modified reference voltage corresponds to the reference voltage that is adjusted to compensate for the small voltage drop in the maximum input voltage. In another embodiment, the invention implements a differential version of the peak amplitude comparator to obtain better noise rejection and reduced effective offset among other advantages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to integrated circuitry, and inparticular to various implementations for a high speed peak amplitudecomparator.

There are many circuit applications wherein there is a need to detectthe peak amplitude of a received signal. In data communication circuits,for example, the receiver must be able to distinguish between a noiseand weak but valid signal at its input. To accomplish this, typicallythe peak amplitude of the input signal is first measured and thencompared to a threshold voltage to determine whether the input signal isa valid signal. FIG. 1 depicts a typical implementation for aconventional peak amplitude detector 100. An amplifier 102 andtransistor M1 are connected in a feedback configuration with the inputsignal Vin being applied to one input of amplifier 102. As Vin rises andtransistor M1 turns on, the amplitude of the signal Vc (at node 104)essentially follows that of Vin. When Vin drops from its peak value,transistor M1 turns off, but capacitor C1 maintains the charge at node104 at the peak value of Vc. Thus, the amplitude of the signal Vc alwaysreflects the peak amplitude of Vin. A comparator 106 is then used tocompare the amplitude of Vc with a reference voltage Vref, and generatesa binary signal at its output to indicate whether the amplitude of Vc(−to peak value of Vin) is greater than or smaller than Vref. A currentsource IO is provided to allow capacitor C1 to discharge in case ofrandom glitches at the input. Current 10 is made very small relative tothe size of capacitor C1. As long as an input signal is present, Vinupdates the charge stored by capacitor C1 thus the slow discharge doesnot result in an appreciable reduction in Vc in the absence of a glitch.

A drawback of the circuit of FIG. 1 is that because of the feedback loopits speed of operation is limited. Thus, for very high speedapplications such as data communication circuitry in the GigaHz range(e.g., SONET OC192), peak detectors with this type of feedback loop arenot suitable. This has created a need for peak amplitude detectioncircuit techniques that are operable at very high frequencies.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides various methods and circuits forimplementing high speed peak amplitude comparison. Broadly, theinvention achieves higher speed of operation by eliminating the slowfeedback loop commonly employed in peak detection. In one embodiment,the invention directly compares a signal that represents the peakamplitude of the input signal minus a small voltage drop to a modifiedreference voltage. The modified reference voltage corresponds to thereference voltage that is adjusted to compensate for the small voltagedrop in the maximum input voltage. As thus constructed, a comparison ofthe two voltages performs the intended function without the need for afeedback loop. In another embodiment, the invention implements adifferential version of the peak amplitude comparator to obtain betternoise rejection and reduced effective offset among other advantages.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a peakamplitude comparator including an input circuit having an input terminalcoupled to receive an input signal, and configured to generate at anoutput terminal a first signal with an amplitude that is substantiallyequal to a peak amplitude of the input signal minus a predeterminedvoltage drop; a reference circuit having an input terminal coupled toreceive a reference voltage and configured to generate at an outputterminal a second signal with an amplitude that is substantially equalto the reference voltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; and acomparator having a first terminal coupled to receive the first signaland a second terminal coupled to receive the second signal.

In a more specific embodiment, the input circuit includes: a transistorhaving a gate terminal couple to receive the input signal, a firstsource/drain terminal coupled to a logic high power supply and a secondsource/drain terminal coupled to the output terminal of the inputcircuit; a capacitor coupled to the second source/drain terminal of thetransistor; and a current source coupled to the second source/drainterminal of the transistor, wherein the predetermined voltage drop issubstantially equal to a threshold voltage of the transistor.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a differentialpeak amplitude comparator including an input circuit having first andsecond input terminals coupled to respectively receive differentialfirst and second input signals, and configured to generate at an outputterminal a first signal with an amplitude that is substantially equal toa peak amplitude of either of the first and second input signals minus apredetermined voltage drop; a reference circuit having an input terminalcoupled to receive a reference voltage and configured to generate at anoutput terminal a second signal with an amplitude that is substantiallyequal to the reference voltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; anda comparator having a first terminal coupled to receive the first signaland a second terminal coupled to receive the second signal.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a method forcomparing a peak amplitude of an input signal to a reference voltage,including storing on a first node a first signal having an amplitudethat is substantially equal to a peak amplitude of the input signalminus a predetermined voltage drop; applying to a second node a secondsignal with an amplitude that is substantially equal to the referencevoltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; and comparing a magnitudeof the first signal to a magnitude of the second signal.

The following detailed description and the accompanying drawings providea better understanding of the nature and advantages of the high speedpeak amplitude comparator according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a typical circuit implementation for a conventional peakdetector;

FIG. 2 is a simplified circuit schematic for an exemplary implementationof a peak amplitude comparator according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified circuit schematic for an exemplary implementationof a differential peak amplitude comparator according to anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate the offset behavior of the variousembodiments of peak amplitude detectors and comparators describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To attain higher speed of operation, it is desirable to eliminate thefeedback loop that is commonly employed in peak detect circuitry.Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a simplified circuit schematic foran exemplary implementation of a peak amplitude comparator 200 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Peak amplitude comparator200 includes an input circuit (or input path) 202 and a referencecircuit (or reference path) 204. Input circuit 202 includes a fieldeffect transistor M2 that receives the input signal Vin at its gateterminal. Transistor M2 has its drain terminal connected to the positivepower supply VDD and its source terminal connected to node 206. Acapacitor C2 connects between node 206 and ground (or negative powersupply VSS depending on the implementation). A current source device I1connects in parallel with capacitor C2 and provides a discharge path forcapacitor C2 to address glitch conditions at the input. Referencecircuit 204 includes a field effect transistor M3 that receives areference signal Vref at its gate terminal. Transistor M3 has its drainterminal connected to VDD and its source terminal connected to node 208.A current source device 12, preferably replicating current source deviceI1, connects between the source terminal of transistor M3 and ground. Acomparator 210 receives node 206 at one input and node 208 at another.The output of comparator 210 provides the output OUT of the circuit.Current source devices I1 and 12 may be implemented by a transistor thathas its gate driven by a bias voltage. It is to be understood that thespecific implementation shown in FIG. 2 is for illustrative purposesonly, and that the invention can be implemented with variations andmodifications to this specific embodiment. For example, transistors M2and M3 (or M4 and M5 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3) may be connectedto another voltage, and possibly coupled to VDD via another circuitelement such as a resistor. Also, some applications may includefiltering such as an RC low pass filter at node 206.

In operation, Vin turns on transistor M2 when, its magnitude is one Vthgreater than the signal level at its source terminal (node 206), whereVth is the threshold voltage of transistor M2. With transistor M2 turnedon, voltage Vi at node 206 increases as Vin increases but is lower thanVin by one Vth (i.e., V1=Vin−Vth). However, after Vin reaches its peakamplitude, Vinmax, and starts to decrease, transistor M2 turns off sincecapacitor C2 operates to maintain the charge at node 206. With M2 turnedoff, capacitor C2 holds voltage Vi constant at value [Vinmax−Vth].Signal V1 is, therefore, not the true peak of the input signal Vin, andinstead is one Vth lower than the peak. To compensate for thisdifference, instead of applying reference signal Vref directly to theother input of comparator 210, the magnitude of Vref is adjusted byreference circuit 204. Reference circuit 204 includes a circuit thatessentially replicates input circuit 202. Vref is applied to the gateterminal of transistor M3, and transistor M3 is biased by current source12. Signal V2 at the source terminal of transistor M3 is thus equal toVref−Vth where Vth is the threshold voltage of transistor M3. It ispreferable to use a transistor and a current source device in referencecircuit 204 that is of similar size and layout as those in input circuit202. Comparator 210 thus compares [V1=Vinmax−Vth] at node 206 with[V2=Vref−Vth] at node 208. In this fashion the circuit of FIG. 2effectively compares Vinmax with Vref without the use of any feedbackloops. This circuit can operates at much higher frequencies compared tothe prior art peak detectors of the type shown in FIG. 1.

In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides adifferential implementation for a peak amplitude comparator. FIG. 3 is asimplified circuit schematic for an exemplary implementation of adifferential peak amplitude comparator 300 according to this embodimentof the present invention. Circuit 300 is similar to the single-endedcircuit of FIG. 2 in most respects except for the inclusion of a secondtransistor in the input path. Thus, the circuit includes a firsttransistor M4 that receives the positive half Vinp of the differentialinput signal and a second transistor M5 that receives the negative halfVinn of the differential input signal. FIG. 3 also shows the use oftransistors M7 and M8 each having its gate driven by a bias voltage Vbas the current source devices. It is to be understood that other typesof implementations for current source devices are possible. For example,the current source can be implemented using resistors or cascodeconnected transistors, and the like.

The operation of the circuit of FIG. 3 is very similar to thesingle-ended peak amplitude comparator shown in FIG. 2, except that thedifferential implementation offers a number of advantages. First, due tothe differential nature of the circuit, better noise rejection isobtained. Secondly, this implementation is better in handling a longstream of zeros (logic low level) at the input. With the single-endedapproach, a stream of zeros at the input may cause the storage capacitorto gradually discharge through I1 well below the peak value. With thedifferential implementation shown in FIG. 3, a stream of zeros at oneinput, say the positive input Vinp, means that the other input, Vinnreceives a stream of ones (logic high level). Since node 302 responds toboth inputs, capacitor C3 would remain charged to the peak value of theinput signal even with a stream of zeros at Vinp.

Another advantage of the differential peak amplitude comparator of FIG.3 is a significant reduction in offset. In a typical circuit applicationemploying the peak amplitude comparator of the present invention thereare a number of sources of offset. The high speed input signal that isreceived from the transmission line is typically amplified before it isapplied to the peak amplitude comparator. Transistor mismatch andamplifier systematic offset as well as offset inherent in thedifferential signal contribute to the DC offset Vos. Differences betweenthe input path and the reference path as well as transistor mismatch inthe comparator (304) also add to the DC offset Vos. The magnitude andsign of this offset signal Vos varies from chip to chip and depends onthe input signal to the chip. Its distribution can be approximated by abell shaped curve centered around zero as shown in FIG. 4A. Hence, thepeak value of Vinp (i.e., Vinpmax) is also a bell shaped curve with itscenter at the ideal value when the offset signal Vos equals zero asshown in FIG. 4B. With the differential implementation, if Vos isnegative, Vinpmax is reduced but Vinmnax is increased, and the peakvalue becomes [Viomax+Vos], where Viomax is the ideal peak value (withno offset) of both Vinp and Vinn. That is, with the differentialimplementation shown in FIG. 3, the two-sided offset distribution isrectified to only the positive side as shown in FIG. 4C. This leads to adirect reduction in the range of the peak value that is impacted byoffset.

The present invention thus provides method and circuitry forimplementing high speed peak amplitude comparators. Two specificembodiments, one single-ended and one differential implementations, havebeen described wherein peak comparison is accomplished without the needfor a feedback loop. While the above provides a detailed description ofcertain specific embodiments of the invention, various alternatives,modifications and equivalents are possible. For example, theillustrative embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 employ metal-oxide fieldeffect transistor (MOSFET) technology. The present invention, however,is not limited to MOSFET technology and other technologies such asbipolar, GaAs or GaAs on silicon and the like may be used to implementthe present invention. The scope of the present invention is thus notlimited to the specific embodiments described, and is instead defined bythe following claims and their full breadth of equivalents.

1. A peak amplitude comparator comprising: an input circuit having aninput terminal coupled to receive an input signal, and configured tostore a first signal with an amplitude that is substantially equal to apeak amplitude of the input signal minus a predetermined voltage dropand to generate the stored first signal at an output terminal; areference circuit having an input terminal coupled to receive areference voltage and configured to generate at an output terminal asecond signal with an amplitude that is substantially equal to thereference voltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; and a comparatorhaving a first terminal coupled to receive the first signal and a secondterminal coupled to receive the second signal.
 2. The peak amplitudecomparator of claim 1 wherein the comparator is configured to compare amagnitude of the first signal to a magnitude of the second signal. 3.The peak amplitude comparator of claim 2 wherein the predeterminedvoltage drop is substantially equal to a transistor threshold voltage.4. The peak amplitude comparator of claim 3 wherein the input circuitcomprises: a first transistor having a gate terminal coupled to receivethe input signal, a first source/drain terminal coupled to a logic highpower supply and a second source/drain terminal coupled to the outputterminal of the input circuit; a capacitor coupled to the secondsource/drain terminal of the first transistor; and a current sourcecoupled to the second source/drain terminal of the first transistor,wherein the predetermined voltage drop is substantially equal to athreshold Voltage of the first transistor.
 5. The peak amplitudecomparator of claim 4 wherein the reference circuit comprises: a secondtransistor having a gate terminal coupled to receive the referencesignal, a first source/drain terminal coupled to the logic high powersupply and a second source/drain terminal coupled to the output terminalof the reference circuit; and a current source coupled to the secondsource/drain terminal of the second transistor.
 6. The peak amplitudecomparator of claim 1 wherein the input signal comprises first andsecond differential signals and the input terminal comprises first andsecond terminals coupled to respectively receive the first and seconddifferential signals.
 7. The peak amplitude comparator of claim 6wherein the input circuit comprises: a first transistor having a gateterminal coupled to receive the first differential signal, a firstsource/drain terminal coupled to a logic high power supply and a secondsource/drain terminal coupled to the output terminal of the inputcircuit; a second transistor having a gate terminal coupled to receivethe second differential signal, a first source/drain terminal coupled tothe logic high power supply and a second source/drain terminal coupledto the output terminal of the input circuit; a capacitor coupled to thesecond source/drain terminals of the first and second transistors; and acurrent source coupled to the second source/drain terminals of the firstand second transistors.
 8. The peak amplitude comparator of claim 7wherein the predetermined voltage drop is substantially equal to athreshold voltage of the first transistor.
 9. A differential peakamplitude comparator comprising: an input circuit having first andsecond input terminals coupled to respectively receive differentialfirst and second input signals, and configured to generate at an outputterminal a first signal with an amplitude that is substantially equal toa peak amplitude of either of the first and second input signals minus apredetermined voltage drop; a reference circuit having an input terminalcoupled to receive a reference voltage and configured to generate at anoutput terminal a second signal with an amplitude that is substantiallyequal to the reference voltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; anda comparator having a first terminal coupled to receive the first signaland a second terminal coupled to receive the second signal.
 10. Thedifferential peak amplitude comparator of claim 9 wherein the inputcircuit comprises: a first transistor having a gate terminal coupled toreceive the first input signal, a first source/drain terminal coupled toa logic high power supply and a second source/drain terminal coupled tothe output terminal of the input circuit; a second transistor having agate terminal coupled to receive the second input signal, a firstsource/drain terminal coupled to the logic high power supply and asecond source/drain terminal coupled to the output terminal of the inputcircuit; a capacitor coupled to the second source/drain terminals of thefirst and second transistors; and a current source coupled to the secondsource/drain terminals of the first and second transistors.
 11. Thedifferential peak amplitude comparator of claim 10, wherein thepredetermined voltage drop is substantially equal to a threshold voltageof the first transistor.
 12. A method for comparing a peak amplitude ofan input signal to a reference voltage, comprising: storing, on a firstnode, a first signal having an amplitude that is substantially equal toa peak amplitude of the input signal minus a predetermined voltage drop;generating a second signal having an amplitude that is substantiallyequal to the reference voltage minus the predetermined voltage drop; andcomparing a magnitude of the first signal to a magnitude of the secondsignal.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of storingcomprises: turning on a switch to charge a capacitor when the inputsignal increases in amplitude; and turning off the switch when the inputsignal starts to decrease.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the stepsof turning on and turning off the switch comprise directly applying theinput signal to a control terminal of the switch.